name: PayFast FinOps Framework
description: FOCUS-aligned FinOps reference for teams integrating the PayFast API. Covers cost drivers from per-transaction fees across payment methods, payout fees, refund fees, and the immediate payout surcharge, along with optimization strategies for minimizing payment processing costs in South African e-commerce contexts.
specificationVersion: '1.0'
url: https://payfast.io/fees
costDimensions:
  - name: Transaction Fees
    description: Primary cost for API consumers. Charged as a percentage of transaction value (plus a fixed ZAR component for most methods) on each successful payment. Rates vary by payment method.
    billingModel: percentage-plus-fixed
    currency: ZAR
    costDrivers:
      - name: Credit and Cheque Card
        rate: '3.2% + R2.00'
        methods:
          - Visa
          - Mastercard
          - Google Pay
          - Apple Pay
          - Samsung Pay
          - Store Cards
      - name: Instant EFT
        rate: '2.0% (min R2.00)'
        methods:
          - Instant EFT
          - Capitec Pay
        notes: Lowest-cost option for bank transfer payments
      - name: MoreTyme (Buy Now Pay Later)
        rate: '5.5% + R2.00'
      - name: MukuruPay
        rate: '3.5% + R6.00'
      - name: QR Code Payments (Scan to Pay)
        rate: '3.5% + R2.00'
        methods:
          - SnapScan
          - Scan to Pay
      - name: Mobicred
        rate: '3.2%'
        notes: No fixed component — percentage only
      - name: Alternative QR / Voucher Methods
        rate: '4.5% + R5.00'
        methods:
          - Scode
          - Zapper
  - name: Payout Fees
    description: Fee charged per payout disbursement from the PayFast merchant balance to the merchant's bank account.
    billingModel: per-transaction-fixed
    currency: ZAR
    costDrivers:
      - name: Standard Payout
        rate: 'R8.70 excl. VAT'
        notes: Fixed fee regardless of payout value; consolidating payouts reduces this cost
  - name: Immediate Payout Surcharge
    description: Optional surcharge for accessing funds within minutes of settlement rather than waiting for the standard payout cycle.
    billingModel: percentage
    currency: ZAR
    costDrivers:
      - name: Immediate Payout
        rate: '0.8% excl. VAT (min R14.00)'
        notes: Use only when cash flow urgency justifies the additional cost
  - name: Refund Fees
    description: Per-refund processing fee charged when merchants issue refunds to customers via the Refunds API or merchant dashboard.
    billingModel: per-transaction-fixed
    currency: ZAR
    costDrivers:
      - name: Customer Refund
        rate: 'R2.00 excl. VAT per refund'
        notes: Original transaction fee is not returned when a refund is issued
optimizationStrategies:
  - name: Encourage Instant EFT Payments
    description: Instant EFT (2.0%, min R2.00) and Capitec Pay offer the lowest transaction fees available on PayFast. Promoting these methods at checkout — especially for higher-value transactions — reduces per-transaction cost compared to card payments at 3.2% + R2.00.
    impact: high
    effort: low
  - name: Consolidate Payouts
    description: The payout fee is a fixed R8.70 per disbursement regardless of value. Batching payouts to occur less frequently (e.g., weekly rather than daily) reduces the total payout fee burden per rand disbursed.
    impact: medium
    effort: low
  - name: Avoid Immediate Payout Unless Necessary
    description: The 0.8% immediate payout surcharge (min R14.00) adds meaningful cost at scale. Use only when working capital requirements genuinely demand instant access; otherwise rely on the standard payout cycle.
    impact: medium
    effort: low
  - name: Minimize Refund Volume
    description: Each refund costs R2.00 excl. VAT on top of the lost transaction fee (which is not recovered on refund). Reducing refund rates through better product descriptions, fraud controls, and clear return policies directly lowers API cost.
    impact: medium
    effort: medium
  - name: Negotiate Volume Pricing
    description: Merchants averaging over R50,000 in monthly transaction volume (over a rolling three months) can negotiate custom rates below the standard published fees. Triggering this threshold is the single highest-impact cost reduction available.
    impact: very-high
    effort: medium
    url: https://payfast.io/fees
  - name: Avoid High-Fee Alternative Methods for Large Transactions
    description: Methods like MoreTyme (5.5% + R2.00), Scode, and Zapper (4.5% + R5.00) carry the highest per-transaction fees. Where feasible, guide customers toward lower-cost methods (Instant EFT, card) for high-value purchases to reduce blended fee rates.
    impact: medium
    effort: low
costAllocation:
  - dimension: PaymentMethod
    values:
      - CreditCard
      - InstantEFT
      - CapitecPay
      - MoreTyme
      - MukuruPay
      - ScanToPay
      - SnapScan
      - Mobicred
      - Scode
      - Zapper
      - ApplePay
      - GooglePay
      - SamsungPay
      - StoreCards
  - dimension: TransactionType
    values:
      - Payment
      - Subscription
      - TokenizationCharge
      - AdhocCharge
      - Refund
  - dimension: PayoutType
    values:
      - Standard
      - Immediate
monitoring:
  - name: Transaction History
    endpoint: /transactions/history
    description: Query merchant transaction records by date range, day, week, or month to track fee accrual and payment method distribution
  - name: Refund History
    endpoint: /refunds/:payment_id
    description: Fetch refund records to monitor refund volume and associated fees
  - name: Merchant Dashboard
    url: https://payfast.io
    description: The PayFast merchant dashboard provides transaction reports, payout history, and fee summaries for manual cost monitoring